Job Summary
This position supports the development director and college efforts with fundraising and stewardship activities, special projects, and event management.
Responsibilities
The development specialist represents the face of the university and college to donors and other community members and must possess a professional, positive, and problem-solving attitude.
Assists in organizing and implementing stewardship and cultivation events for the college (e.g. donor/student gatherings, Scholarship & Donor Celebration Dinner, Jones Lecture Series)
Assists with Giving Day before the event and the two days of Giving Day each spring semester.
Manages routine stewardship activities (e.g., runs donor giving reports, prepares stewardship letters, handles gift deposits, coordinates birthday messages, and creates impact reports).
Assists with routine development activities and reporting in the University’s fundraising platform, UNITE (e.g., records event attendance, writes contact reports, manages the Forever Utah Alumni Network page)
Assists with prospect management and assessment (e.g., involved with annual donor reporting, helps assess prospects for the college)
Assists with the scholarship process for the college (e.g., gets thank-you letters, student spotlights, and photos from students, coordinates stewardship for scholarship donors, and help with the annual scholarship and donor celebration dinner)
Prepares and mails holiday cards and gifts to donors, as well as Scholarship & Donor Celebration items and Giving Day items.
Assists with prospect management and assessment (e.g., involved with annual donor reporting, maintenance of mailing lists, creation of spreadsheets to track data related to fundraising, and updating the database regularly)
Assists in identifying excellent student stories based on reading student spotlights to use in the college’s magazine, newsletter, and impact reports.
Updates hard files and scans documents to keep digital donor files current in both Unite and the college’s shared drive.
Essential Functions:
Assists with development events
Assists with the annual Scholarship & Donor Dinner
Assists with planning, developing, and managing specific programs/events centered on public relations and development activities. (e.g., Local, in-state and out-of-state events)
Assists with development stewardship
Runs giving reports for donors
Prepares thank you letters for donor gifts
Identifies and maintains information on donors and prospective donors
In coordination with PR staff, develops and distributes brochures and literature supporting development activities and programs
Assists with prospect management/assessment
Assists with annual endowment reports for the U of U Central Development Office
Assists in organizing and implementing fund-raising campaigns and special development projects for a department. (e.g., campaign events to donor birthday cards; documenting in UNITE)
Assists with the design and implementation of new ideas and programs. Evaluates effectiveness and makes recommendations for change
Assists with routine development tasks
Tracks event data in Unite (e.g., event attendance, gifts made through event registration)
Writes personal contact reports and assists with contact reports for Development Director
Handles occasional record updates in Unite
Manages the College’s Forever Utah Alumni Network page
Assists with the scholarship process
Tracks scholarship thank you cards and acceptance letters; prepares these for sharing with donors
Requests Student Spotlight and photo from each student
Assists in various creative and administrative writing tasks
Drafts special thank you letters for notable donors
Writes articles related to fundraising and development for the Education magazine, newsletter, or Impact Report

Work Environment and Level of Frequency typically required
Nearly Continuously: Office environment.

Physical Requirements and Level of Frequency that may be required
Nearly Continuously: Sitting, hearing, listening, talking.
Often: Repetitive hand motion (such as typing), walking.
Seldom: Bending, reaching overhead.

Minimum Qualifications
Bachelor’s degree in Communications, Public Relations, Marketing, or a related field, or equivalency (one year of education can be substituted for two years of related work experience); and demonstrated human relations and effective communication skills required. Experience which includes fundraising, grant and publication writing, planning and implementing special events and programs and a successful track record in raising donations is preferred.

Preferences
1. Strong knowledge of Microsoft Office Suite – particularly Word, PowerPoint, and Excel.
2. Experience with student and donor management databases (e.g. People Soft, Salesforce/Unite).
3. Excellent writing and editing skills.